Sudden Flight?

[Marcus Hancroft]

My roommate is a resident in SL as well, and he has a very frustrating (if interesting) problem.  He demonstrated this for me last night, on the very computer I am on now and on which I also log in and use SL.  He was on the ground standing there.  Began walking down the sidewalk.  Suddenly, he took off in flight!  Arms and legs flailing, he went higher and higher until he double click teleported back down to the ground.  He then teleported up to the building platform he uses.  

We noticed that, as he was standing there, he was hovering a little above the platform.  Then, two steps, and off he went again!  A double click teleport was needed to get him back to the platform.  

I use this same computer for SL, and I've never ever had this happen to me.  He wondered if it was the new mesh shoes he was wearing.  He took them off, tried a few steps, and up and away he went again!  

Whatever is causing this is triggering the "falling" animation because each time his arms and legs start flailing around.

Has anybody ever had an issue like this before?  Any suggestions on a resolution?  

What gets me is that this is the same computer I use, the exact settings I use (we use the latest Firestorm), and MY avatar never does this.  

[Lindal Kidd]

It sounds as if your friend is encountering something that is bumping him very hard.  A griefer who shoots him with a powerful gun could cause this.  Have him enable Help/Bumps,Pushes, and Hits and see if someone registers as having bumped him.immediately following this behavior.

Also, does this happen anywhere he logs in, or only in one particular region?  If anywhere, he is possibly wearing an object that is causing the problem.  Have him detach all attached objects, including HUDs.  If at one location, it could be the aforementioned griefer, or an invisible object he's colliding with at one spot, or a scripted object that is in that region and has been told to "follow" him and attack whenever he shows up in that region.

EDITED TO ADD:  Whatever the cause, the falling animation isn't being caused by it, not directly.  Any time your avatar flies through the air when you have not triggered flying, you'll get the falling animation.  You may have noticed this when people rez in on top of someone else.  So, given the circumstances, the flailing about is normal behavior.